The present invention relates in general to the use of standard database management software in the context of a complex electronic system and in particular to the use of a commercial database management system in a telecommunication switch.
Telecommunication switches are required to manipulate very large amounts of data with very low latency time. Generally in the prior art, the data which is manipulated in such systems has been organized to facilitate the hardware operation and/or has been organized in ways related to the use of the data and not relationally. As such, typical computer data report generation, updates, maintenance and similar tasks in telecommunication switches have been accomplished by specially-prepared computer programs designed specifically for the particular switches associated therewith. As is well known, most software has within its structure a plurality of "bugs" or programming instructions which do not operate correctly for all potential operating conditions. Generally, the longer such programs are operated the more such "bugs" are identified and can be removed or repaired. The specifically-programmed software within telecommunications switches follows the general trend as to its propensity to contain errors. However, because much of the prior art specifically-programmed switch software is changed whenever the hardware is changed, such software's lifespan is limited and the robustness which is achieved only through time is never obtained.
Commercial database management software has existed for a number of years and has been able to provide the data management functions. Because such software typically has wide usage, it is often able to obtain a sufficient lifespan to enter a stage of relatively few coding errors.
Given the need to accomplish database type tasks in telecommunication switches, it would be desirable to use standard widely-use database management software in conjunction with such hardware. Such usage has not been made in the past, however, because most such commercial software has been too slow to satisfy the stringent speed requirements of real-time telecommunications equipment and because the design of the telecommunications switch control systems were generally not readily adaptable to the forms required for commercial database management software. For these reasons, proprietary telephony software has evolved for data manipulation which varies over time and amongst installations. Such custom software generally has all of the difficulties mentioned above and is generally relatively expensive. Additionally, reconciling differences in standards has led to further complications and their attendant inefficiencies.
Many improvements could be realized through the use within telecommunications equipment of standard, commercially available database software. Particularly where the standard database management system can be a standard commercial system, the use of such a system can significantly improve and simplify the management of data in an area in which data management is crucial and must be performed in real time.
In accordance with the present invention, a commercial database can be used with a telecommunication switch in a variety of configurations. In contrast to some systems in the prior art in which the database was within a switch itself. The present invention may involve a topology in which the database software and the hardware upon which it is executing is located outside the switch itself. An advantage of such a system is that details of the database implementation are transparent to the call processing software in the switch. Further, other database clients can be allowed direct access to the database through a standard interface without permitting such other clients access to the call processing software and/or operations.
Another aspect of the present invention also addresses modifications to features of standard databases which improve their utility in the context of a telecommunication switch. One improvement is the addition of a database command which provides updates to a querying client as the results of the query change over time. This feature is particularly important in the dynamic world of telecommunication applications.
The prior art discloses such a database management feature in the context telecommunications data only with respect to resynchronizing multiple databases, not with respect to a database and a querying client. Other prior art discloses the similar automatic update features for database software, but not in the context of a telecommunication application.
One means of providing efficiency to the operation of a database system which can be accessed by multiple clients is to cache similar results. In other words, if two clients simultaneously or nearly so request similar searches of the database, only one search is performed and the results are provided to both clients. One difficulty with such systems, however, is the currency of the data in the cache of search results. If the underlying data have changed, the cached results may longer be valid; however, the search cache may return the still-cached results nonetheless. This problem in some prior art systems is exacerbated in realtime systems such as in some telecommunications equipment. Known database cache systems generally do not allow for a variable timer as the determinant of cached data validity.
Another aspect of the present invention is the capability within the database of a dynamic telecommunication system to cache query results and provide the cached results instead of performing a redundant search upon receipt of an identical query. This improves response time to many queries, which is particularly important in a telecommunications context. The validity of the cached data may be determined by the amount of time that has passed since the original query. This time limit may be programmably variable.
Another aspect of the present invention is the capability to update a database using batch inserts. Such a capability provides a client with a method of inserting many records into a database with a single command. This is particularly important in the area of telecommunications data, where activities such as creation of records for a large group of subscribers with unique phone numbers would be tedious without such a capability. This command may also provide the ability to specify incremental parameters. For example, a large number of phone numbers may be inserted with each number incrementing by five over the previous number.
The prior art discloses commands which perform actions on multiple entries. Generally, such prior art systems do not, however, provide a means to insert multiple records with varying data as in the present invention.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method of managing data for a telecommunication switch by using a standard database immediately adjacent to such a switch.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of manipulating a database through the addition of a command to a database protocol which maintains information about a query and updates a querying client as query results change.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of caching query results such that queries which are identical to prior queries receive cached results instead of requiring redundant data gathering.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of caching query results wherein the validity of cached data is determined by the elapsed time since the original query.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel method of manipulating a database through the addition of a command to a database language which allows a plurality of records to be inserted into a database with a single command.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.